On the above mentioned page, Giganews claims that the software is "100% Giganews" instead of some herky-jerk third-party crud. (this should read "someone else's software" )

I originally heard about Golden Frog when Giganews announced the creation of Golden Frog way, way, way back. It was my understanding then that Giganews decided to create a "software" arm that would contain the best and brightest software people* to create the application software that would help make Giganews great.

Now I am getting mixed signals.

Giganews' site (as noted above), would lead anyone to believe that things like Mimo, VyprVPN, Dump Truck et. al., are something that Giganews created and Giganews provides as a service to its customers. (The implication being that Golden Frog is somehow a part of Giganews.)

Giganews and Golden Frog are two separate companies. Golden Frog has partnered with Giganews to offer the Golden Frog services of VyprVPN and Dump Truck to Giganews customers. What you are seeing on the Giganews website is that Giganews owns and writes 100% of its server software code, as well as the code of its usenet reader Mimo. Golden Frog owns and writes 100% of the software code for VyprVPN and Dump Truck. As Giganews and Golden Frog are two separate companies, Giganews customers must contact Giganews for assistance in troubleshooting, including VyprVPN and Dump Truck, as Golden Frog does not have access to a Giganews customer’s account information, nor have access to Giganews servers. This means that Golden Frog would not be able to determine if there is an issue with a Giganews customer’s account or an issue with the Giganews’ servers that may be causing the issue for the service; ultimately meaning that Golden Frog is unable to offer effective troubleshooting for a Giganews. Golden Frog only provides the VyprVPN and Dump Truck software to Giganews via the partnership.

Regarding your inquiry about Golden Frog Brand Advocate web page, Golden Frog does require that you are a current VyprVPN user, meaning you have an active account with either Golden Frog or Giganews with VyprVPN access. Our Marketing team is looking into changing the wording on that page, as I can definitely see where some clarification is needed.

If you have any further questions or need further clarification, let us know.

I sent this inquiry to Elizabeth Kintzele over at Golden Frog asking for clarification, as she had mentioned to me in an earlier e-mail that both Golden Frog and Giganews clients would be welcome.

This is her reply to that request for clarification:

Jim,

Regarding your inquiry about Golden Frog Brand Advocate web page, Golden Frog does require that you are a current VyprVPN user, meaning you have an active account with either Golden Frog or Giganews with VyprVPN access. Our Marketing team is looking into changing the wording on that page, as I can definitely see where some clarification is needed. [emphasis provided by me]